After three rounds of the PGA Tour’s first playoff event, the FedEx St. Jude Championship, Hideki Matsuyama holds a five-shot advantage.
He signed for a 6-under 64 with five birdies, an eagle and one lone bogey.
Since the start of this tournament, Matsuyama’s putter has been one of his best clubs in the bag. Saturday’s round saw him rank No. 10 in the field in strokes gained, putting at +1.804.
He leads the field through three rounds of play, picking up almost seven strokes (+6.893) on the putting green alone. He is also No. 1 in strokes gained total (+14.142).
“I did put a new putter in the bag, and it’s been behaving very well,” Matsuyama said after his round on Saturday. “I’ve had the putter for a while, and I thought it might be a good week to debut that putter. But I might change putters tonight even.”
It is a Scotty Cameron putter, but he did not know exactly what model.
Matsuyama started his round with a birdie on the first but coughed up his only shot of the day on No. 2.
The par-5 3rd was a huge momentum booster for the 2024 Bronze medalist. He landed his second shot 14 feet, 11 inches from the hole, and sank the putt.
“It was very important,” he said. “Got the momentum back and then carried on with the round. That was big.”
His putting is a huge factor, but his approach game has helped him just as much. He is No. 2 in strokes gained through 54 holes, picking up +6.849 shots.
The Japanese golfer is coming into Memphis after his bronze performance in Paris, and it seems he is peaking at the right moment this season.
However, it has a lot to do with finally feeling healthy.
“I don’t know if that has anything to do with the results,” Matsuyama said about being healthy. “Again, hopefully, we can carry on and do the same. We have good and bad days, but today I played well, and again. Hopefully, that will carry over to tomorrow.”
While the eagle at No. 3 massively boosted his confidence, saving par on 17 might have been the most important shot of the day.
Matsuyama made an incredible up-and-down to set up the par save.
TPC Southwind is not playing easy. The wind gives players a lot to think about, but for Matsuyama, it does not bother him.
“The course does play more difficult, especially in the wind,” Matsuyama said. “It is drying out. I’m not sure what the condition is going to be tomorrow, but hopefully, I can prepare well for it and do the same.”
Matsuyama holds a five-shot lead over solo second place, and PGA Tour rookie Nick Dunlap sits at 12-under overall. He shot a 4-under 66 to move up four spots on the leaderboard.
They will tee off in the final group at 1:40 p.m. ET on Championship Sunday.
Savannah Leigh Richardson is a golf staff writer for SB Nation’s Playing Through. For more golf coverage, follow us @_PlayingThrough on all major social platforms. You can also follow her on Twitter @SportsGirlSL and Instagram @golf_girl_sl.
